Rice professor on bike killed by METRORail near Houston Zoo

Rice University identifies the bicyclist killed during a Friday morning collision with a METRO train as one of its professors. (American Physical Society)

KTRK

Friday, February 03, 2017

HOUSTON (KTRK) --

METRO says a woman who was killed by a light rail train Friday morning did not have the right of way when she rode her bike into the train's path.

The victim has been identified as 66-year-old Marjorie Corcoran, a physics and astronomy professor at Rice University.

Corcoran died after she was run over by the METRORail at Fannin and Sunset, prompting crews to shut down the roadway in both directions.

Houston police said she crossed in front of the train on her bike after coming from the Hermann Park side of Fannin.

It was not immediately clear whether or not Corcoran was wearing headphones at the time of the crash.Tragically, investigators said her body became trapped underneath the train, and could not be pulled out until METRO moved the vehicle forward.

A bicycle was seen by SkyEye crumpled between the light rail train and a loading platform.